IDF Warns 32-Month Service Is Only Manpower Stopgap

An overnight update said senior IDF officers view keeping regular service at 32 months as only a minimum stopgap to slow a deep manpower crisis while the coalition races through draft-related bills in the Knesset's final week. The report said the army still wants 36 months for all regular-service soldiers, but is being forced to accept 32 months to prevent the planned drop to 30 months. The same package includes a freeze on arrests and enforcement against haredi yeshiva students who meet study declarations, Basic Law: Torah Study and other coalition priorities. Other reports say the IDF and Knesset legal staff oppose the arrest-freeze measure, while the haredi parties backed a narrower Torah Study wording that keeps Torah learning as a foundational value.